You’re going to be hearing the term “Ultrabook” quite a lot in the coming months.

By the middle of 2012, the question, “What is an Ultrabook?” will sound as silly as asking “What is an iPad?”

. . . At least that is what several computer manufacturers, led by Intel, are hoping.

USA Today says that “2012 will witness an explosion of these devices as manufacturers pin on them their last best hopes for regaining consumer computing interest”, which apparently is now focused on tablets.

An Ultrabook is a computer in a category of higher-end thin and lightweight ultraportable laptops, defined by a specification from Intel. The name “Ultrabook” is an Intel trademark. (However, I believe that the term will used by consumers; and Best Buy salespersons, to refer to anything from an official “Ultrabook” to a Macbook Air, so long as it is super thin, contains a flash SSD rather than a hard-drive, etc. – much like “Ping Pong” and “Kleenex” are trademarks, but now have become common terms for table tennis and facial tissues – I bet you didn’t even know that “Ping Pong” was a trademarked brand (?).)

At any rate, by it’s marketing initiative and an associated $300M fund, Intel hopes to reinvigorate the PC market, against rising competition from tablet computers, which are powered by rivaling ARM-based processors.

Toshiba Portege z830 Ultrabook

Incorporating new CULV Intel processors with integrated graphics, and flash-based SSDs, Intel claims that the main draw of Ultrabooks will be their light weight, long battery life, strong performance, ultra-fast loading times, and reasonable pricing (under $1000) for base models.

Announced at Computex 2011, Intel estimates that by the end of 2012, 40% of the consumer laptop market segment will be Ultrabooks.

I, for one, am excited about getting an Ultrabook.

I love my iPad, but for “real” computing, I turn to my notebook – it has a nice keyboard, I can use a mouse, the screen is larger, and I can run Windows-based software . . . but it’s a pain to lug around, compared to my sweet little iPad. If only there were a cross between a tablet and a notebook computer, something that was thin and light enough that I could just toss it in my backpack . . . and if it had a long battery life, so that I didn’t have to carry that big heavy AC adapter along with me . . . and if it would boot up almost instantly, like my iPad . . . that would be just great!

Enter the Ultrabook! It’s just what I described above, and I can’t wait to get my hands on one! (Surely, some manufacturer must want to send me a complimentary one that I can review! You know how to contact me).

Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook

I’m not holding my breath about getting one “comped”, so I suspect I’ll be ordering one of the models listed below.

ASUS ZenBook

In the meantime, I found this on http://www.techeye.net/ and I thought it was good for a chuckle:

 
Seagate GoFlex Satellite 500GB USB 3.0 / WIFI Black Mobile Wireless Storage – $149.99 (w/ $30 off code “STX10US”) + Free Shipping at Newegg.com, exp. 12/31
 

Sorting products by Total Price

	Toshiba Portege R835-P81 13.3-Inch LED Laptop - Magnesium Alloy Casing in Blue Designed to offer the very latest in lightweight, mobile computing, these portable laptops are stylish, more...		$749.99
	Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 13.3 inch Ultrabook, Intel Core i5-2467M (1.60GHz), 4GB The Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 Ultrabook PC weighs in at just under 3 lbs and measures more...		$899.99 Free Shipping!
	ASUS Zenbook UX21E-DH52 11.6-Inch Thin and Light Ultrabook (Silver Aluminum) more...		$899.99
	Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 LX.RSF02.079 Ultrabook PC - Intel Core i5-2467 Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 LX.RSF02.079 Ultrabook PC The Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 LX.RSF02.079 Ultrabook PC weighs in more...		$899.99

Searching the web for the best product deals...